The Government of Northwest Territories (GNWT) Department of Education, Culture and Employment (ECE) has released a new instructional video to help the public understand how to access French language services and how to use the active offer.  An active offer is a greeting that informs the public that they may communicate in either French or English when requesting a service from the GNWT. Its purpose is to ensure that an individual feels comfortable expressing themselves in either language.

Yearly funding proposals are now being accepted for the Supporting Child Inclusion and Participation (SCIP) program. The funding is intended to reduce barriers and increase participation in early learning and child care programs for children from birth to six years of age with diverse needs. The deadline to apply is April 25, 2022, at 5 p.m.

Building Forever: Women’s Pre-Trades Program is a partnership between the Government of the Northwest Territories, Gahcho Kué Mine (De Beers Group and Mountain Province Diamonds Inc.) and the Native Women’s Association of the Northwest Territories. This program will give women from the Northwest Territories (NWT) a paid opportunity to explore a career in a skilled trade.

Applications for the third delivery of the Mentor-Apprentice Program (MAP) are now being accepted. Potential participants are invited to submit their applications to be a mentor or an apprentice before the deadline of May 1, 2022.  

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Monsieur le President, one of the beautiful things about living in the Northwest Territories is the diverse range of cultures and languages that reside here. Our Francophone community, made up of approximately 4,200 residents, is an important component of our society and a significant contributor to our social, economic and cultural development.

The Government of the Northwest Territories (GNWT) is proud to celebrate the Francophone community of the Northwest Territories (NWT) during the 24th Annual Rendez-vous de la Francophonie. From March 1-31, 2022, the GNWT invites you to celebrate les Rendez-vous de la Francophonie! This month is an opportunity for Canada’s 10 million French-speakers and all Canadians to honour and promote French language and culture.

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Mr. Speaker, this Legislative Assembly has made it a priority to advance universal child care for residents of the Northwest Territories. Today I am honoured to share the highly anticipated results of our work with Canada that will help us achieve this priority.

Today the Government of Canada and the Government of the Northwest Territories (GNWT) announced that child care fees for NWT families with children from birth to five years of age in licensed child care will be reduced, on average, by 50 per cent. The reduction will be effective January 1, 2022.

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Mr. Speaker, “Let’s Go Fishing”. That is the theme of this year’s Indigenous Languages Month, which we celebrate every February, in partnership with Indigenous governments, and the Northwest Territories Literacy Council. To help everyone embrace this year’s celebration, we are sharing a delicious Fish Chowder recipe in all nine official Indigenous languages. Throughout February we continue to encourage residents to engage in the exciting activities in communities and schools to promote Indigenous language use.

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Mr. Speaker, today is Pink Shirt Day, a day when we take a moment to pause and reflect on how we treat one another.